Secret Sam

by
David Galassie
In a third grade classroom, the secret
agent-in-training fires the message towards his
comrade. The missile lands helplessly on his
teacher's desk as recess comes to a close.

The finest spy trench coat in the world cannot hide
the agent's embarrassment as his teacher pulls the
housing off the missile and reads the message
aloud: "The man with the hat is the spy" She holds
it up to the class- "Who does this belong to?" The
young agent is mortified as laughter fills the
room. Hanging his head, he trudges to the front of
the room and retrieves it from his teacher.

He was
lucky; it was the second day back from Christmas
break and each student had been allowed to bring in
their favorite gift that day. Obviously, her
Christmas spirit had carried over into 1966. He
lived to spy another day.

The advent of the 1960s brought with it a new theme
for boy's toys. Whereas the 1950s had been all about
cowboys and Western themes, the breakout toys of the
Sixties were spy toys. The success of the James Bond
movies- Dr. No in 1962 and From Russia
With Love in 1963 led to TV imitations, the most
successful being The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Later,
Secret Agent, The Prisoner, Mission
Impossible, and even a comedy- Get Smart,
filled the airwaves and inspired boys everywhere
that the spy game was an intriguing and romantic
one. Toys fashioned after the television series were
bound to be a hit also.

But generic spy toys were also big sellers. One of
the most successful was Topper Toys' "Secret Sam
Attaché Case". This apprentice spy received one for
Christmas in 1965 and he doesn't remember a cooler
toy since.

The elaborate plastic
Attaché had all the
makings of a spy survival kit. There was the basic
pistol, complete with scope, which shot two kinds of
white plastic bullets, long range and short range.
In addition, there was a silencer and barrel
extension (which really DID deaden the sound) and a
stock which converted the pistol into a rifle. A
periscope fastened to a yoke behind the handgrip,
perfect for peering over obstacles and around
corners. You can't be too careful in the spy game!
In addition, the pistol/rifle was capable of
shooting a "message missile", a plastic housing slid
off the missile body and a paper message could be
wrapped around it. Once the housing was replaced, it
could be shot over long distances to a fellow agent
or operative.

One of the neatest features
was that the weaponry could be operated while the
Attaché was closed. A secret button on the
briefcase's side would allow the firing of a round
through the narrow side of the Attaché if
needed. Quite handy. And on the other narrow side, a
working camera was nestled within the Styrofoam
interior shell, and could be operated from a secret
button outside the case, perfect for photographing
would-be assassins and conspirators.

The Secret Sam line also included a smoking pipe
which could fire bullets while clenched in one's
teeth (not very politically correct today!) and the
"Six Finger" gun, an artificial index finger which
fired bullets and missiles of various sorts. Though
they were fine toys, they never held the cachet of
the Secret Sam Attaché'. While it listed for $6.88 in
the 1965 Sears Christmas catalogue, a near-mint copy
today can fetch $150-$200 on the auction market, a
small price to pay for the world's greatest spy
toy.

About the author:
David Galassie is a human resources specialist in
Columbia, SC. When not writing in his free time, he pursues genealogy,
Wisconsin history, and comic
book collecting. He has been published online in
The Comic Book Electronic
Magazine, Long Story Short, and in print in Good
Old Days Specials magazine.